Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Gabe B — 24 Jul 2017

Surprisingly, War for the Planet of the Apes has very little war. Instead, it builds a powerful story off the back of an intelligent, thoughtful, and well-crafted premise.

This film shines through its story, one part conclusion to our hero Caesar's beautifully crafted arc and another part isolated action plot intelligently created with enough emotional pull to fill another whole trilogy. At times fans of the original Planet of the Apes may sense writers Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback desperately attempting to fill all the holes leading to that original 1968 classic, but it's disguised well enough to sparsely be noticed.

Andy Serkis deserves a special shout out for bringing the main protagonist to life. Perhaps one day the academy will honor motion capture performances like his. Serkis is joined by a cast of other outstanding motion capture actors and actresses as well, notably Karin Konoval for her incredible work as Maurice.

There are shots in the film that will blow an observant viewer away. Reeves and cinematographer Michael Seresin pulled out all of the stops, making this feature a joy to look at.

Most divisive are the two new characters added in this final installment, another chimp who goes by Bad Ape and a young girl eventually given the name Nova. It's impossible to comment on the characters specifically without leading into spoiler territory, but it does seem as if they were added to fill aspects the previous film was lacking, a comedic release and further emotional human connection. Both characters seem at times overdone, but both add to the story in their own right and (although they could have been toned down) were both very necessary.

All in all, War for the Planet of the Apes is a great conclusion to a fantastic trilogy. It will leave you satisfied and craving more.